Must-see attractions in Fiordland & Southland

  • New Zealand Slope Point

    Slope Point

    Fiordland & Southland

    South Island’s true southerly point lies not in Bluff, as many mistakenly believe, but at the end of a 20-minute trudge through a windswept cliff-side…

  • Parrot on Ulva Island, New Zealand.

    Ulva Island

    Fiordland & Southland

    A tiny paradise covering only 269 hectares, Ulva Island / Te Wharawhara is a great place to see lots of native birds. Established as a bird sanctuary in…

  • Colorful heavy vintage truck collection in the Bill Richardson Transport World Museum in Invercargill, South Island, New Zealand.

    Transport World

    Fiordland & Southland

    A kingdom of shiny chrome lies beyond the doors of Transport World, touted as the largest private automotive museum on the planet. Across 15,000 sq metres…

  • Lighthouse on Nugget Point.

    Nugget Point

    Fiordland & Southland

    Reach one of the South Island's most jaw-dropping coastal lookouts via the 900m Nugget Point (Tokatā) walkway. Wave-thrashed cliffs give way abruptly to…

  • Te Hikoi Southern Journey

    Fiordland & Southland

    Oh, that all small-town museums could be this good! The riveting Riverton museum starts with a 16-minute film about Pākehā sealer Jack Price and his Māori…

  • Lost Gypsy Gallery

    Fiordland & Southland

    Fashioned from remaindered bits and bobs, artist and 'organic mechanic' Blair Somerville's intricately crafted automata are wonderfully irreverent. The…

  • Purakaunui Falls

    Fiordland & Southland

    If you only see one waterfall in the Catlins, make it this magnificent cascade down three tiers of jet-black rock. It's an easy 10-minute clamber to reach…

  • Mirror Lakes

    Fiordland & Southland

    Fifty-eight kilometres north of Te Anau along the Milford Hwy are the Mirror Lakes, a popular stop on this world-renowned road trip. A five-minute stroll…

  • E Hayes & Sons

    Fiordland & Southland

    Hardware shops aren't usually a must-see, but this one holds a piece of motoring history. In among the aisles of bolts, barbecues and brooms in this…

  • Hokonui Moonshine Museum

    Fiordland & Southland

    In the early 20th century, Gore's enterprising Scottish immigrants responded to 50 years of prohibition by distilling their own moonshine. This museum…

  • Cathedral Caves

    Fiordland & Southland

    Cutting back into cliffs right on the beach, the huge, arched Cathedral Caves were carved out of the limestone by 160 million years of waves. Named for…

  • Stirling Point

    Fiordland & Southland

    Posing for a photo beside the Stirling Point signpost is a quintessential Bluff experience. Distances to Wellington, London and New York are indicated by…

  • Curioscape

    Fiordland & Southland

    Incorporated in this new centre is a pleasant cafe (lunch mains $10 to $22, dinner $26 to $38), visitor centre and the Gateway, a modern museum with a…

  • Roaring Bay

    Fiordland & Southland

    Your best chance of spotting rare yellow-eyed penguins (hoiho) is from a hide at Roaring Bay, 8km south of Kaka Point's main drag. The hide is accessible…

  • Owaka Museum & Catlins Information Centre

    Fiordland & Southland

    Vaguely canoe-shaped in honour of the town name (Owaka means 'place of the canoe'), this modern museum is a pleasant surprise. Salty tales of shipwrecks…

  • Milford Underwater Observatory

    Milford Sound

    Run by Southern Discoveries, this small observatory is NZ's only floating underwater observatory, with displays on the unique natural environment of the…

  • Matai & Horseshoe Falls

    Fiordland & Southland

    Two falls for the price of one! A fork in the road leads you, on the left, to the graceful drop of Matai Falls, while stairs to the right bring you to…

  • Eastern Southland Gallery

    Fiordland & Southland

    Nicknamed the ‘Goreggenheim’, this gallery has a truly impressive treasury of contemporary New Zealand art, including a large Ralph Hotere collection and…

  • Bluff Maritime Museum

    Fiordland & Southland

    Salty tales whisper from the portholes, driftwood and barnacle-clung planks displayed at Bluff's small museum by the container port. The best part is…

  • Anderson Park

    Fiordland & Southland

    Stretching over 24 hectares, this beautiful park includes landscaped gardens fringed by an expanse of native bush, plus a children's playground and duck…

  • Gunn's Camp Museum

    Fiordland & Southland

    Less a museum, more a cabin strung with antique agricultural tools and old moa bones, Gunn's Camp Museum is worth a peep into, if only to browse the…

  • Waipapā Lighthouse

    Fiordland & Southland

    Standing on a desolate but beautiful point surrounded by farmland, this 13.4m-high lighthouse was built after the SS Tararua disaster, an 1881 shipwreck…

  • Classic Motorcycle Mecca

    Fiordland & Southland

    More than 300 motorcycles spanning over a century are displayed in this shiny-floored showroom, including three-wheelers and sidecar bikes. It's utterly…

  • McLean Falls

    Fiordland & Southland

    A lovely walk along wooden walkways and fern-fringed tracks brings you to the attractive McLean Falls, named for an early 20th-century settler renowned…

  • Gore Historical Museum

    Fiordland & Southland

    Gore Historical Museum, incorporating the Gore visitor centre , celebrates the town's proud history of fishing, farming and Māori heritage. The more…

  • Waikawa Museum & Information Centre

    Fiordland & Southland

    A one-stop shop in a one-horse town, Waikawa's museum incorporates an information centre, acts as the reception for various local holiday rentals, and…

  • Lake Mistletoe

    Fiordland & Southland

    An easy 45-minute return walk leads through forest to Lake Mistletoe, a small glacier-formed lake.

  • Petrified Forest

    Fiordland & Southland

    Marvel at the rare phenomenon of fossilised forest, extending south of Curio Bay. Preserved by silica in the ashy floodwaters that submerged these…

  • Bluff Hill

    Fiordland & Southland

    A steep sealed road leads up to the top of 265m Bluff Hill (Motupōhue), where a path spirals up to a lookout. Various walking tracks head up here,…

  • Water Tower

    Fiordland & Southland

    Built in 1889, this elegant brick-clad structure resembles a lighthouse more than it does a water tower. Almost 43m high, it was built to supply the city…

  • Rakiura Museum

    Fiordland & Southland

    Historic photographs are the stars of this small museum focused on local natural and human history, and featuring Māori artefacts, whaling gear and…

  • Humboldt Falls

    Fiordland & Southland

    This 275m-high cascade is a worthwhile detour when driving the Milford Hwy. Reach the lookout point on an easy 1.2km hike through rainforest (30 minutes…

  • Queens Park

    Fiordland & Southland

    Half-wild, half-tamed Queens Park encompasses a whopping 80 hectares, with various gardens themed from Japanese to native NZ plant life. There are also…

  • Clifden Suspension Bridge

    Fiordland & Southland

    Spanning the Waiau River about 12km north of Tuatapere, this suspension bridge, completed in 1899, is the longest of its kind in NZ. Its 15m-high concrete…

  • Oreti Beach

    Fiordland & Southland

    Ten kilometres southwest of city centre Invercargill, this 26km sandy beach invites brisk walks and bike rides. Southland racing legend Burt Munro once…

  • St Mary's Basilica

    Fiordland & Southland

    This broad-domed Roman Catholic basilica, open since 1905, is one of Invercargill's most elegant landmarks, and a standout against the low-rise skyline…

  • Jimi Rabbitz Gallery

    Fiordland & Southland

    With characters that are part cheeky, part creepy, award-winning sculptor Helen Back makes whimsical works that look like they've stepped from the pages…

  • Florence Hill Lookout

    Fiordland & Southland

    Three kilometres southwest of Papatowai, a short gravel road leads to sweeping Tautuku Bay, which can be viewed from on high at the Florence Hill Lookout…

  • Bushman's Museum

    Fiordland & Southland

    Sharing a building with the Tuatapere Hump Ridge Track Information Centre, this modest museum features rusting relics and photographic records of the area…

  • Fortrose Cliffs

    Fiordland & Southland

    For those who appreciate stomach-flutteringly steep lookout points, the Fortrose Cliffs are a worthy photo-op on a drive between Invercargill and the…